MANILA, Philippines — Princess Superal hit her stride and shot a six-under 66 to gain a share of the lead with local ace Miki Uehara in the first round of the Daikure Ladies Cup of the Japan LPGA Step Up Tour at the Kure Country Club in Hiroshima last Wednesday.

Superal, the reigning Order of Merit champion of the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour, found the rolling par-72 layout with sleek putting surface to her liking, hitting it straight off the mound and producing superb approach shots that set up a number of birdie chances, six of which she drilled in inside 12 feet.

That put the ace Filipina shotmaker within 18 holes from scoring a breakthrough on the Japan LPGA Tour farm league where she settled after a failed bid in the final stage of the grueling qualifiers for the region’s premier ladies circuit last year.

Superal,,who tied for ninth in the Sky Women’s ABC Cup in Hyogo last July before resuming her campaign on the LPGT, and Uehara, winner of the last leg, the Castrol Women’s in Chiba three weeks ago, stood two strokes ahead of Nana Yamashiro, who shot a 68, while eight others turned in identical 69s, ensuring a fierce duel in the final round of the 36-hole event offering a total prize pot of Y1.5 million ($14,100).

President Duterte is seeking common ground with Beijing on the planned joint exploration in Philippine waters and has not abandoned the 2016 arbitral court ruling favoring the Philippine position on the South China Sea, Malacañang told Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday.

Malacañang on Saturday slammed Vice President Leni Robredo for criticizing President Rodrigo Duterte’s openness to ignore the Philippines’ legal victory in the South China Sea and seal an energy deal with Beijing, saying she needs new advisers who can comprehend the maritime row.

The US Navy said that one of its destroyers had sailed close to the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on Friday, asserting international freedom of navigation rights in the contested waters.

Under Philippine law, President Rodrigo Duterte does not have the authority to "set aside" the July 2016 ruling issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Supreme Court Senior Associate Antonio Carpio said.